Boomtown
by Pookie2
Summary: The Courier attempts negotiations with the xenophobic Boomers while Veronica ponders her place in the Brotherhood.  Part 6 of the "All the Things You Are" storyline.  Rated for language, violence, sexual innuendo and explosions.
1. Detonation

Layla slammed the Sierra Madre snow globe on the counter in front of House's monitor bank in the Penthouse.

"Thanks for the help," she said tartly, using all of her will to not look at the little glass dome. She'd slammed it a lot harder than she'd meant to and hoped she hadn't broken it.

"You seemed to have managed fine without any assistance." House didn't sound too impressed with her display. That was a big surprise. "In the future, have your employees refrain from pestering my robots."

"Yeah, I hear Victor was the one who actually helped, so I guess I can count on him at least…"

"Yes, well, Victor's insubordination has been dealt with."

"What did you do to him?" Layla hadn't expected the outrage to show in her voice as much as it did.

"What I do with my property is none of your concern." He gave an audible sigh at the face she was making at the monitor. "Victor's 'cowpoke' demeanor is unchanged. His loyalties have just been reaffirmed. Now, do you have my chip?"

Layla hesitated for a moment, then dug the disk out of her pocket. She ran her thumb over the metal, feeling the scar on her head itch.

"Good," he continued. "Insert it into the slot." There was an opening in the console similar to the one in the weather station at the Fort. The Courier looked at the chip one last time, then slid it into the slot.

"Excellent. Jane will have your payment. And if you'll accompany Victor down to the basement, I can finally show you the potential the Platinum Chip brings."

The robot in question rolled into the room. Layla bit her lip, looking at him as if the alterations House had made would show on his monitor.

"Come on, darlin' let's go see what the boss' got cooked up." Victor seemed as cheerful as ever.

"…Okay." She followed the securitron to an elevator just off of the monitor bank. Soon they were riding down to the basement, Layla still giving the robot a sick look.

"Are… you okay?" she finally said. She knew plenty of people wouldn't be concerned about the robot, but Victor was an AI, knew of his existence and could think for himself. His disobedience of House's orders was proof enough of that. Limiting his functions or reprogramming his personality were just as bad as if House had trapped her in the presidential suite or had her leg shot off. She wanted to talk more about it, but the Courier was painfully aware that House was probably listening in on everything they said.

"Don't you worry about ol' Vic. These old processors still got some life in them."

That didn't answer her question, and she bit her lip again, trying to think if there was any way to figure out exactly what it was House had done. The problem was, anything Victor said or did could be a programmed response, not his actually personality.

"You're a sweet thing to worry, but I'm fine." Victor continued. "Boss man doesn't like to alter his fancier hired hands."

His screen switched to the winking cowboy. Layla decided that would have to do for now. The elevator opened to a large room. There were a few securitrons behind a force field, standing around piles of sandbags and crumbling concrete walls with targets on them.

"Step up to the testing field and take a look," House's voice came over the room's speakers. "With this, we can finally move on with my plans. We have much to accomplish, you and I."

*.*.*

"How long could it fucking take?" Cass said moodily, putting a card on the table. Raul gave it a look from behind his cards, then threw down a Jack, making her retract hers. The caravaneer grumbled as she put her feet up on the table, away from the cards.

"Layla mentioned House is a windbag, and so is she. I'd give it another hour or two," said Arcade, looking sourly at the mud-covered boots inches from his plate of leftover grilled mantis.

"You've got a lot of nerve calling anyone 'windbag,'" Cass said.

"Oh ha ha ha." He elbowed her feet off the table and went back to his food. The kitchen was starting to smell heavenly from the first batch of cookies Lily had put in the oven. The nightkin flipped on the radio as she got the second batch ready to bake.

Arcade pointed a fork at Boone, who sat across the table reading an issue of True Police Stories. "I've been meaning to ask what exactly were you two doing at McCarran that caused Layla to pass out from overexertion."

Boone lowered the book and glared at Veronica, who in turn glared at Arcade. The girl turned her gaze over to Boone after a moment and gave him an innocent grin.

"So I wasn't supposed to tell Arcade?" She balked at the face he was giving her and jumped out of her seat, moving toward Lily.

"Grandma! Can I help you with that?"

"Oh thank you, dear! Hold that tray steady now." The super mutant started putting blobs of dough on a tray while the scribe kept her back firmly turned against the death glare she was getting.

Arcade cleared his throat, and Boone looked back his way. "We're going to have to start chaperoning you two. How did she manage to get so worked up in a 'safe base full of allies'?"

"They were probably screwing," Cass said, grinning in the sniper's direction. "At least they should have been."

"Nothing happened," the sniper said, gaining a room full of suspicious looks.

Arcade opened his mouth to deliver some form of snarky rebuttal when the voice of Mr. New Vegas came over the radio.

"_Sources say a plot to destroy the Camp McCarran monorail via an explosive device has been foiled by an alert civilian contractor. Security is being tightened."_

The doctor turned back to Boone, eyebrows raised. The sniper's face was back in the magazine.

Shaking his head, Arcade went back to his food. Raul blocked another of Cass's moves, and she grumbled something about skinless cheaters. Arcade looked up from his plate, unable to hold his tongue any longer.

"And where exactly did you drag her afterwards?"

"Bitter Springs," Boone said from behind his book. "I… There was something I had to do there. Not a big deal."

Arcade was about to comment, but was again interrupted by Mr. New Vegas.

_"Also, a Legion slaver party was wiped out in a failed raid of the Bitter Springs refugee camp, with two armed civilians inflicting heavy Legion casualties."_

Now the sniper was giving an innocent look to the doctor, who glowered. "I don't suppose that was you two-"

"_One witness said, quote; "God sent us two angels, and at least one o' them had a .308 caliber flaming sword of justice - with a telescopic sight."_

The doctor threw his hands in the air, exasperated.

"Anything else? Was it some kind of trap just for you? Or did that creep Legionary spy who's got a hard on for Layla show up?"

The doctor's jaw dropped as Boone brought the magazine back up to his face, refusing to answer.

"Jesus Fuck, I'm not going anywhere with you two," Cass said, amazed. "We go for a drink on the Strip and there'll be murderous, flesh eating crazies after us."

Cass gave him a very suspicious look as the sniper's lip twisted in a vain attempt to hide a grin.

"This is getting fun!" Veronica said from the stove. "Did you make that robot the sheriff of Primm too?"

"That one wasn't us," Boone said from behind his magazine.

"No fighting!" Lily said, setting down a plate of cookies. "Eat up, there's more on the way!"

The conversation died down as everyone took a cookie. Cass and Raul continued their game as they ate.

"It _was_ Layla though," Raul said after cookie number three. "That robot sheriff. She told me about it."

"Why the fuck would she make a robot a sheriff?" Cass scoffed.

"She liked his hat."

"What is it with her and robot cowboys?" Veronica said, cookie dough spoon in her mouth.

"No worse than robot prostitutes," Boone said from behind his magazine, and Veronica's face turned red.

Arcade dropped his fork. "Did Boone just burn you?"

"I heard you actually tried the thing," Raul said to him.

"_WHAT_? No I didn't." The doctor turned on Veronica. "What did you tell them?"

"I didn't say anything!"

"You fucked a robot?" Cass said incredulously to Arcade. "Ew! Not that one at the Atomic Wrangler! Oh that's just nasty!"

"I didn't fuck a robot!"

"What the hell are you people talking about?" Layla said as she stepped into the kitchen. "Hey! Cookies." She reached over a furiously blushing Arcade and grabbed one before taking an empty seat next to Boone.

"So, what'd House have to say?" Cass asked.

"Well," she took a bite of the cookie in her hand. "Oh man these are good, thanks Grandma!"

"You're welcome, dear." Lily beamed.

"Well, the Platinum Chip apparently was a new operating system for the securitrons," the girl continued.

"And?" Veronica said.

"And…" She looked over her shoulder, out to the hall. "Hey Victor? Could you come in here real quick?"

"Whatcha need?" the robot said as he rolled in.

"Show 'em your new toys."

The securitron's grenade and rocket launchers both came out of their housing. The winking cowboy flicked on his screen.

"They've also got a new auto-repair function and better targeting systems," Layla added, noting her companions varying degrees of shock. "Did you get anything new in particular, Vic?"

"Still sorting through all the data, little lady. I'll let you know if I find anything."

"All right, thank you," the Courier said.

"Don't mention it." He rolled back out of the room.

"Well, that's… something," said Arcade.

"All of them have this now?" Raul said. "_All_ of them?"

"I don't know if the reserve units are even all the way online yet, but I figure they'll all have the upgrades once they're activated."

The ghoul leaned back on his chair. "Did he say anything else?"

"Yes." She looked at Boone. "House's numbers say the Legion won't survive more than a year without Caesar. Congratulations, you've killed the Legion."

"Huh," the sniper grunted, grinning slightly. He reached for another cookie.

"They're still going to attack the Dam, so we're going to have to prepare," Layla continued. "House wants me to talk to the Boomers, try to get them on our side."

"Boomers?" Cass asked.

"Group of munitions junkies that took over Nellis Air Force Base fifty years ago," Arcade said, leveling a look at the Courier. "They blow anyone up that tries to get near them."

"That's them," Layla said, reaching for another cookie. "Sweet Christmas. Did you put Jet in these or magic, Grandma?"

The super mutant laughed. "Just an old recipe deary. I'll teach you one day if you'd like."

"That'd be great!"

"Did House have some kind of trick to get you in without getting the fuck blown out of yourself?" Cass asked, putting her feet back on the table and ignoring Arcade's glower.

"Uh, he mentioned that I should be extremely careful, and that they've blown up a bunch of his securitrons already." She smiled toothily. "So, who's coming with me?"

"I'm nowhere near drunk enough to agree to _that_," Cass said tartly.

"Yeah, I've got to wash my hair," Raul said, taking another cookie, "Sorry."

"I'll go," Boone said.

"Bigsurprise," Cass said between coughs, earning a glare from the sniper.

"Wait, Nellis Air Force Base?" Veronica asked, and Layla nodded. "Oh, I'll go too. The Pulse Gun Father Elijah mentioned was supposed to be around there." She frowned at the sudden emergence of dirty looks that 'Father Elijah' caused.

"Oh, that works anyway," said the Courier. "I was gonna pick up ED-E from the Brotherhood on the way. His upgrades should be done by now."

"Great," the scribe said, looking grateful at the sidestep.

"Anyone else? Grandma, are you heading back home soon?"

"Just for a little while, pumpkin. Gerdi's got a lamb on the way," she said.

"All righty, guess it'll be a foursome when we get ED-E," the Courier said. She started to stand, but froze as Boone cleared his throat loudly. She looked at him and groaned, sinking back into her chair.

"What?" Arcade said, already sounding suspicious.

"There's been a… development." Layla sagged against her seat for a moment, then stood. "Okay, you guys need to know about this. It's kinda bad."

She felt several pairs of eyes on her and she bit her lip. Her gaze flitted back to Boone, who nodded encouragingly at her.

"It seems that the Legion wasn't happy with the whole killing Caesar thing."

"I can't imagine why," Arcade said.

"They put a bounty on Boone and me."

"That's not such a big deal," Veronica said. "No one's gonna go after you who wouldn't anyway and why are you looking at me like that?"

"It's kind of a big bounty… and it's for alive only."

"How much?" Cass asked, mouth full of cookie.

"Two million caps," the Courier answered. There was a stunned silence. "Each."

"Fuckity fuck-fuck!" Cass sputtered, crumbs flying. "Wait, why didn't Raul get a bounty?"

"I wondered that too," Boone said. "He did more than Layla."

"Hey, if the Legion doesn't want to spend millions of caps on me, I'm okay with that," the ghoul said.

"Anyway," Layla said, getting their attention. She took a deep breath and said the next part quickly. "Things are going to start getting crazy. If anyone wants out, I think now would be a good time to part ways. No hard feelings."

There was another silence, and Layla's face took on a sickly look as no one answered. Biting her lip, she sunk back in her chair. She felt a hand squeeze her shoulder, and was surprised to find Boone giving her a reassuring look.

"Oh for the love of… No one is going to puss out now," Cass said testily, giving the others an impatient look. "Right?"

"Despite it being a pretty terrible idea, I'm not going anywhere," Arcade said.

Veronica nodded. "Yeah, I have to put this on the top of the 'stupid' list too, but I can't give it up now."

"How can it be any worse than getting shot in the shinbone at Caesar's personal camp?" said Raul. "I'm sure Lanius will just let us have the Dam if you ask nice, boss."

Layla gave them all a grateful smile. A moment later, her smile faded. "Are you sure? Four million is a lot of caps. People will be coming out of the woodwork…"

"Well shit, when you say it like that, maybe _we_ should just turn you in for it," Cass said.

"It _is _tempting," Arcade added.

"Well… you'll have to get through Boone first." The Courier looked toward the sniper in question, who was grinning marginally.

"I don't know, if they agree to not turn me in, I'll help them with you."

"That's reasonable," Veronica said. "Can everyone agree about that?" The group at the table all nodded, except Layla, who leveled mock-glares across the room.

"Some friends." She suddenly grinned. "Hey Victor!"

The robot rolled back into the room, and the girl continued, "You won't let them turn me into the Legion for two million caps, right?"

"Well… that is a whole heck of a lot of money…" The screen flashed to a winking cowboy. "But they'll have to go through ol' Vic first."

"Ha!" She leveled a grin at the others. "At least I've got one true friend." She got up from the table, walking to the robot. "I'm retiring to my room. Would you mind escorting me away from these ruffians?"

"Sure thing, don't want anything happening to you on the way."

"Why thank you." The girl hooked her arm in the robot's and gave a smug grin to the group as she started for her room.

"I hate that robot," Cass said sourly.

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading, and we'll be back on TuesdaySaturday updates. I'll spill the beans now: after we're finished with Boomtown, we're all taking a trip to Utah :3


	2. Force

What a nice mix of reviews! Thank you for all the support in the ups and downs of this series, you folks are a huge factor to my enthusiasm for this project. Oh, and thank you, Readaholic for your enthusiastic review, but for the record, I am a lady-type ;) Anywho, enjoy the new chapter and see you on Saturday!

* * *

><p>"ED-E! You look so handsome!" Layla giggled as she leapt up and hugged her robot. Veronica noticed a few other brotherhood scribes shake their heads at the girl as she cooed over the eyebot.<p>

"Who's got the best armor? You do!" the Courier continued, releasing the robot. ED-E beeped merrily and flitted about the room. Smiling once again at the machine, she turned to Lorenzo, the knight who had upgraded him.

"Were you able to figure out the radio signal thingy?"

The knight nodded, "I've made a program that'll use your Pip-Boy to display any signals and their origins." He moved to her side, and she held up her arm. Veronica tried to peek at what they were doing.

"What's this about?"

"Hold on," Layla said, intently watching as Lorenzo finished uploading something to her Pip-Boy. Letting go of her arm, he stepped back.

"Bring it up. It should work now."

"Let's see… ED-E?" The robot turned its sensors her way. "Scan the room." The Courier watched the device on her arm as ED-E moved around the room.

"General speaker system, emergency alarm system, and two listening devices in this room. Here," she pointed to the corner of the room, "annnd, here," pointing at the floor near their feet.

"That's it, it works then," said Lorenzo.

"Excellent, thank you!"

"Why'd you have him do that?" Veronica said, peeking over Layla's arm again.

"Just thought it'd be nice to know when we're getting spied on." She grinned at the other girl. "ED-E, scan Veronica."

Beeping cheerfully, it turned its scanners to the scribe, who watched with interest as a signal turned up from her displacer fist.

"Huh, I don't get it," Layla said, confused.

"It's got a sonic emitter," Lorenzo said.

"Oooh, I see… Makes sense." She grinned at the robot again. "Go check Boone, ED-E."

The sniper stood still but gave the eyebot a cautious look as it scanned him. 'No signals' came up on Layla's Pip-Boy.

"See? He isn't an NCR spy," the Courier said lightly. They'd caused a slight scandal walking into the bunker, all three having forgotten about Boone's beret. Things were about to go very badly as a couple power armored knights showed up to 'secure the threat.' Layla had calmly explained he wasn't an active member in the military while Veronica threw herself bodily in front of him.

Eventually, with the Elder's hesitant blessing, Boone was allowed to freely move about the bunker, so long as he was with Veronica. The sniper had not been happy since, and almost every Brotherhood member gave him dirty looks as he passed by.

"Well, thanks again," Layla said, figuring they ought not to linger.

"Not a problem," said Lorenzo.

*.*.*

Boone was almost convinced the lakelurks and the raiders had finally gotten it in their heads to keep away from Lake Mead while he was there. He stood on a raised section of the sand bank, facing down the length of the beach. The anti-materiel rifle hanging on his back would be in his hands at a moment's notice should any threats decide to show themselves, and ED-E was buzzing around the area on watch as well.

He was having a little more trouble than usual keeping his eyes from automatically flying to the splashing noises below him. Most of the time, he didn't have to; Layla had started keeping an extra set of underwear for lake visits. On the occasion she'd forgotten to pack them, he'd clear out an area (preferably a highly defensible inlet) and keep his eyes on the beach beyond him as Layla swam nude.

Today, she'd been talked out of 'itchy and eventually soggy drawers' by Veronica, who was also swimming naked with the girl in a deep well of the lake as they took a break on their way to Nellis. That meant Boone resolutely kept his eyes on the beach. Even if they were making an awful lot of noise.

"Boone!" Veronica called from the water. "Join us, the water's really nice!"

"No thanks."

"Oh, come on!"

He frowned slightly. Layla would swap with him on the occasions he wanted to cool off. She'd never pester him to join her, however. No one would be watching their backs, and sometimes he thought the Courier had a target painted on her back that only scumbags and monstrous sea life could see.

He might have been tempted earlier, but the added threat of the Legion bounty kept him on his guard more than ever. It'd be just their luck that the one time he went for a swim with the girls would be the time a pack of over-ambitious mercenaries would show up to kidnap them. Sure, ED-E was there, but he didn't want to leave their safety solely in the hands of a robot the Brotherhood just got done tinkering with.

There were other issues at hand too, propriety mainly.

"Oh come on, Boone, you'll enjoy it."

"No thanks."

"We're naaaaked," the scribe said in a sing-song voice.

"No."

"Leave him alone," he heard from Layla. "He's keeping watch."

"Oh, don't help him out. You sure, Boone? We're all naked and we're making out."

"No we're not!" Layla squealed.

"Sure we are, come here." There was a sudden increase of splashing and laughing.

"Ah! Get away, you pervert!" Layla cried, dissolving in to giggles.

"You're such a… Uh oh."

"What?" Layla said at Veronica's sudden change of tone. Boone had already seen the cause; three men were traveling up the beach their way. Judging by the brahmin trailing behind them, the sniper guessed they were merchants, well one merchant and two guards by the looks of them. He heard Veronica groan.

"Well there goes the good times."

"What? Why?" The Courier said, confused.

"They're gonna be all 'hey two naked girls are in the lake. That's an open invitation to join them!' Then we're going to have to get out because they won't leave."

"Pfft, don't worry so much. Boone's on it."

Boone held back a smile at Layla's comment as the group made their way closer. Instead he fixed a frown in the direction of the travelers and slowly pulled his rifle off his back. The merchant gave him a sarcastic look.

"What're you, the guardian of the lake?"

Boone didn't respond, and the man kept staring at him. He looked like he was about to give up and move on when Boone heard a splash from behind him and someone shushing.

"Oh! And good morning ladies," the middle-aged man was suddenly all smiles as he caught sight of the girls. Just as the mercenaries were about to move around the brahmin to get a better look, Boone spoke.

"Get lost." The menace in his voice caught all three men's attention. The merchant gave him a cross look.

"You don't own the lake, buddy, so why don't you-"

Boone half-raised his rifle, clicking off the safety. "I said _beat it_."

The mercenaries looked at him uneasily and the merchant paled. "All right," the trader said, backing towards his brahmin. "No need for trouble. We'll be on our way."

The sniper continued glaring at the group until they were out of range, ED-E followed them for a few yards, beeping. He heard Veronica laugh.

"All right, now I think I understand why you keep him around."

"He's also in charge of land mine detection and bullet absorption," Layla said lightly. "All right, how about I dry off and get lunch going?"

"Now you're talking." Veronica sounded delighted. "Boone, come jump in and I'll keep watch. That way Layla can 'make lunch' and 'totally not sneak a peek.'"

"Veronica!" Layla squealed, sounding mortified. "You're a -" Whatever she was going to say was cut off by a cry that was in turn cut off by the sound of frantic splashing.

"Oh shit! Lakelurks!" Veronica cried. Boone turned and found the scribe moving closer to the shore to get better footing as one of the creatures came her way. Before it could get any closer, he fired. The huge round carved most of the lakelurk's face off, and it sputtered and fell.

"One dragged Layla under!" Veronica said as Boone scanned the water for her. Catching the water-distorted sight of the Courier, he dropped his rifle and pulled his machete free as he dove into the water.

The girl had almost gotten free from the lakelurk as they neared the bottom of the lake. It grabbed her arms again, getting a better hold and drawing blood. Boone used the momentum from his dive to crash into the thing, machete first. The blade went through the lakelurk's face. It flailed ineffectively as he pulled Layla from its grasp. Getting his feet under him, Boone pushed off the lake's floor.

They surfaced a moment later, Layla coughing and gasping. The girl's arms clung to Boone's neck as she tried to catch her breath.

"Are you okay?" Veronica cried. She'd retrieved the clawed gauntlet she kept in her pack and had been about to dive under the water to help. ED-E buzzed around her insistently.

Layla nodded, still gasping. "Y-yeah." Her breathing was almost back to normal when she spoke again. "Freaking lakelurks! What the hell was it _doing_?"

"It was just looking for a little love," Veronica said from the beach as she wrapped a towel around herself.

"That's _not _funny." Layla said testily. She looked to Boone with a grin. "I thought you were gonna let them get me this time?"

"Changed my mind," he said with a faint grin. She smiled back at him, and he was suddenly aware of how close her face was to his and how her naked body was pressed against him. The Courier seemed to notice it at the same time, as she turned red and let go of him, hurrying toward the beach.

Veronica seemed to be in a generous mood, handing a towel to the other girl as she emerged. Layla was a fairly deep red by the time Boone climbed out of the water. Before either could say anything, Veronica started laughing.

"You look like a drowned dog!" she said to Boone. Looking down at himself, the sniper figured she was right. He'd leapt into the lake wearing everything, including his boots.

"You'd better get that all off so we can get it dry," the scribe said matter-of-factly. Boone sighed and started untying the laces on his boots.

"Besides, you got a good look. Now it's Layla's turn."

"_Veronica_!"

*.*.*

"…Hey Veronica."

The scribe turned and found Layla giving her an appraising look. They weren't far from the Air Force base, having waited long enough for Boone's clothes to dry. He'd sat around in his underwear, refusing to take them off after the scribe's teasing. Veronica was pretty sure he was running commando now, and filed it away for later, hoping to get a chance to spring it on Layla at an embarrassing moment.

For now, the Courier was eyeing her funny.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

The other girl walked up to her slowly, looking thoughtful.

"Let me try your glove."

Veronica pressed her right arm, encased in her displacer glove, to her chest protectively.

"No! You'll break it!"

The Courier pouted, "Come on, I got it for you!"

"Nuh-uh, Boone's the one who killed Caesar."

"Layla took it off him," Boone pointed out, "along with his arm."

"See? Gimme. I'll give it right back, I just want to try it out."

The scribe gave her a suspicious look, but relented. "All right, but you've got to be careful."

"I will." The girl grinned ear-to-ear as the glove was handed to her. She worked it on her hand and flexed her fingers, then looked around for a target.

Veronica knew better than sending her against a real opponent, so she pointed to a broken telephone pole. It was only a foot or so taller than the girl, who made a weirdly joyful face as she approached the hunk of wood.

"All right," the Courier said to herself, "here goes." She hauled back and punched the pole. A second too late, Veronica realized she hadn't warned her friend about the kickback.

The resulting flash and explosion were a lot louder than any of the three expected, and Layla went flying back. Veronica brushed wood particles from her robe, finding herself unsurprised that Boone had already reached Layla's side and was helping her sit up while ED-E buzzed around them both.

"You okay?" he asked gruffly.

"Hell yeah! That was awesome!"

"Yeah great, now give it back," the scribe demanded. The Courier was good to her word and pulled the device off her arm, handing it to her. She flexed her hand experimentally.

"That was about an inch from shattering my hand." She grinned at her exasperated companions. "That would have probably hurt."

After Veronica gave her lecture on weapon safety, which Layla ignored while having ED-E scan a nearby Big Horner for radio signals, they were back to walking the road towards the Air force Base. Layla slowed her walk as she saw a man standing further up the road, watching them. He didn't look particularly threatening, so the Courier continued toward him.

"Hi there folks. It's dangerous to go this way. You might want to turn back," the man said in a friendly tone.

"Why's that?" Layla asked. She was pretty sure this guy didn't mean them any harm, but he was giving her a weird look.

"The Boomers live in that old base down there, but they tend to blow up anyone who gets too close. You folks wouldn't be looking to go to the base, would you?"

The look he'd been giving her was getting more apparent. Layla recognized it now: greed.

"Not sure, why?"

"Well, the name's George, and I think I've found a way to get in there without getting blown up." He looked over them appraisingly. "All a matter of timing and waiting for the pattern. I could give you my notes…. for a small fee."

Layla gave him an incredulous look. "Has anyone ever made it in?"

"Not yet."

She laughed. "I tell you what, why don't I test out this plan for you. Free of charge."

"Fair enough. Here." He handed the girl a paper. "Use these directions."

The Courier started pouring over the paper, occasionally looking up at the bombed out town between them and the base. It wouldn't be so hard, just had to be careful.

"So, how would you like to make a wager?" George's almost hidden greedy look was back on her when she looked up.

"What kind of wager?" the Courier asked.

"Well, you give me 300 caps, and if you make it in and back alive, I'll double your money."

Layla looked at him for a moment. "Yeah… I could do that."

Veronica suddenly grabbed the other girl's arm. "Excuse us," she said to the man as she dragged Layla back down the road, Boone at their heels.

"Okay, first of all, who said you were making the suicide run? Second, why are you betting on the suicide run?" she sputtered. Layla gave her a patient smile.

"You're not going to make the run because once I get over there, I'm going to have to talk them into not shooting me. And I'm better at talking people out of shooting me." Veronica gave her a indignant look, but the other woman continued.

"Boone's not going because he's the only one who can actually cover whoever does go, and also the whole talking thing." The sniper frowned at her.

"And I'm betting on it because either I make 300 caps or I get blown up and won't miss them. Win-win."

"How is that win-win!"

"Oh, un-twist your panties. This is going to be fine," Layla said. "Just be ready."

"For what?"

"Funeral arrangements. Burn what's left, please."

"Not funny."

"Hey Mister!" She waved the gambler over. "I'll take that bet!"

*.*.*

ED-E hovered near Veronica's shoulder, beeping softly. She'd given Boone a boost up to the ridge overlooking the ruined town Layla would have to run through. George looked on, appearing far more nervous than before. Boone had made some very direct threats to him about what would happen if his notes got Layla killed.

"All right, ready, steady, GO!" Layla cried and started running. By the time she'd passed out of Veronica's view, artillery shells were being fired from the base.

"She's made it to the line of houses," Boone said watching through his scope. "So far so good." There was another explosion. "That one was close… She's given up on the plan and is just running for it." Before he could speak again, there was an explosion loud enough to rattle Veronica's teeth.

"I'm not really sure how, but she dodged that one." There was an even louder explosion, and Veronica watched, horrified as a mushroom cloud rose above the ridge. "Car explosion, barely dodged it. Looks like her arm's hurt." He was quiet for a moment, then spoke again. "She's made it to the gate." He sounded relieved.

"She's talking to the guards. They've got rocket launchers pointed at her. Some other woman's shown up. They're taking her inside."

"What?" the scribe cried. "She was supposed to get us! Are they forcing her in?"

"She doesn't look upset, but they're taking her in at gunpoint." Veronica heard him pull the bolt back on his rifle.

"Wait, wait. If you shoot from there, they're just gonna blow you up. Get down. We need to think of a way to get her out that involves us keeping the same amount of blood we have right now." She frowned as the sniper scrambled down the rock. "Why did we let her go again?"

"No clue."


	3. Velocity

You've got it wrong, AzureStorms, you've just got to call me a dude to get a response :p. Anyway, let me take a moment to thank you and all my regulars who write such excellent reviews. They are a huge part of keeping me on task. Also, thanks to the folks who alert and favorite both me and my stories. And thanks to everyone who reads! Enjoy the new chapter. :D

* * *

><p>Layla sat in a chair across from the leader of the Boomers, a wizened woman named Mother Pearl. The Courier couldn't help but be nervous; there were a half dozen guns pointed in her general direction, and the particular look the Master-At-Arms was giving her wasn't instilling her with much confidence that she wasn't about to be shot.<p>

"I think you can be of help to us," Pearl said, then looked at the guards surrounding Layla. "Leave us."

"But Mother Pearl -" Raquel, the surly Master-At-Arms began to protest.

"Go on," Pearl said firmly. The group exited, lead by a disgruntled Raquel. Once they were alone, the old woman smiled a little more naturally.

"Now dear, can I get you something to drink?"

"No thank you, ma'am," Layla said. "Thank you for having your doctor patch me up, by the way." She held up her newly-bandaged arm.

"Oh think nothing of it, dear. From what I hear, we almost had to scrape you from the asphalt."

"Very true. Your gunners are tenacious." The Courier grinned. "You'll have to forgive me if I'm a little relieved they missed today."

Pearl laughed. "We've been waiting for you for a long time."

"Waiting for me, like a prophecy?" Layla asked, which made the woman laugh.

"No. What are we, Tribals?. The Youngers think we can keep the world out with our weapons, but change is coming. War is on our doorstep. Oh yes, Mother Pearl knows all about the coming battle," the wizened woman said as Layla's eyebrows raised.

"We need to accept the changing world and evolve with it, let a little piece of it in, or we'll be it's victim. You're that little piece of the world."

Layla thought about that for a moment, then asked, "What do you want me to do?"

"Well, for starters, I think you need to speak with our people. There hasn't been an outsider in this base in fifty years. They need to get used to you, and you need to get to know them, before we can begin to really help each other."

"Okay," The Courier said, then bit her lip, unsure.

"What is it, child?"

"Er… well, the thing is… I didn't come alone." Layla noticed the mildly suspicious look Pearl gave her.

"I brought two others. And a robot. Could they be let in too?"

The older woman pondered that for a few moments, then nodded. "Very well, go fetch your friends. But know they're your responsibility. And also know the Youngers will be less likely to trust a group of you."

"Thank you," Layla said, standing. "We'll be back soon."

"All right dear, don't get blown up."

"Um… thanks."

Soon the Courier was making her way back to the ridge to pick up her comrades. Just as soon as she got them, and her 600 caps up, they'd go back and see what they could do to help. The anthropological part of her soul was tingling to see what Boomer society was like. Given her initial meeting with the group, they certainly were enthusiastic about guns. Boone was going to like them.

*.*.*

"… Then I'll slit his throat, take his rocket launcher, and take out the rest near the gate." Boone said calmly, waiting for Veronica to relinquish the Stealth Boy she had on her.

"You're not that great with explosives," the scribe replied.

"Better than you, and at that range I won't miss."

"Then what?" She didn't sound thrilled with his idea.

"You come up once I've taken out the howitzers. Grab a launcher and find me. After we get you set up in the southern guard tower, I'll go dark again, and you take out as many as you can as loudly as you can while I find Layla and free her." He thought for a moment. "I saw a Fat Man on one of them. If I can get it, you'll be able to irradiate the area around the tower. Should hold them off longer."

"They've got nukes?" Veronica said. "This isn't going to work."

Boone leveled a glare at her. "We're not leaving Layla with them."

"I didn't say that, but we need a better plan than 'I hope this works.'"

"No time, we-"

ED-E's frantic beeping cut him off. Boone grimaced. The Boomers had probably spotted them and sent someone to take care of them. He pulled a frag grenade from his pack and carefully peered around the-

"There's my handsome boy!" Layla called out to the eyebot. Boone sighed and deposited the grenade back into his pack.

"What the heck happened to you?" Veronica cried when she saw the girl. "We thought they'd taken you captive!"

"Huh? Oh, no, just wanted me to talk with their elder." She looked sheepish at the faces they were giving her. "I would have waved or something, but I didn't know if they were gonna freak out and bomb you. We should really come up with signals for this kinda thing." She shrugged.

"They're real big on weapons, so they kinda just have them out all the time. Seem nice though, bandaged my arm for me."

Veronica groaned, shaking her head. "Is anything ever easy with you?"

Layla gave her a good-natured grin, despite the scribe's unusually harsh tone. "What fun would that be?"

"What did they want with you?" Boone asked.

"They're willing to talk, but Mother Pearl wants us to meet with the people around the base so they get used to the idea of outsiders. Maybe find something we can help out with. They haven't dealt with anyone else in fifty years."

"Running errands?" Veronica said with a sigh.

"It's either that or get shot at. I prefer errands. Now where's that guy with my caps?"

*.*.*

As they walked into the medical building, Layla could see three men lying on the cots that lined the walls. Argyll, the doctor who'd patched her up, stood, hand going for the pistol at his side.

"Mother Pearl sent us!" The Courier said rapidly, waiving her hands. Her earlier assessment of how smoothly things would go had changed, between how gun-happy the Boomers were, and how protective Boone was, it was going to be a miracle if anyone survived this trip. The man was giving all three of them a suspicious look as he slowly moved his hand away from the pistol at his side.

"What do you want?"

"I have medical experience. I thought I could help you with your wounded…" Layla said, hoping offers of aid were considered a good thing among the Boomers. She held up her bandaged arm. "And to pay you back." The man sighed.

"Yeah, I can use some help," he said. Layla smiled, then indicated her companions.

"Nurse Boone and Nurse-in-training Veronica," The courier said, ignoring the glares she knew were aimed at her.

"Are you a doctor?" Argyle asked, and Layla laughed.

"Not exactly, but I've got some medical training and a working knowledge of tribal medicine."

"Well, I suppose that's what one can expect from savages," Argyll said. Layla heard a scoff from behind her and hoped the doctor hadn't heard Veronica. She hadn't been taking the Boomers' propensity to call them 'savage' very well.

"Well," he continued, "Let's take a look. All these injuries came from the ants in the generator complex, and all are severe." He looked grim. "I'm afraid we're going to have to amputate Douglas' leg."

Layla sighed at that, then set down her bag, digging for her bone saw. She started piling the rest of her medical equipment in Boone's waiting arms, until she found the tool in question.

"All right, Veronica, why don't you…" She trailed off, seeing the sickly face the scribe was making.

"I'm gonna go find an… excuse to not be in here." Veronica said as she backed toward the door. The Courier frowned. She was worried about the group splitting up and possibly upsetting the Boomers. They were a little trigger happy.

"I'm not sure…"

"It'll be fine," the scribe snapped. "I'll just walk around outside."

"Well, all right, just -" Veronica was out of the room before she got a chance to finish her sentence. Frowning, she looked at Boone, who shrugged.

Returning the gesture, she turned back to Argyle, "All righty, let's see about that leg."

*.*.*

Once it was all said and done, Layla managed to save all three men and Douglas' leg. She'd had to get creative with a few of the cures. The herbal immunity boost she'd thrown together had gotten an incredulous look from Argyll, but the doctor seemed slightly less suspicious since she'd finished.

"It looks like we can learn a thing or two from you savages… at least about medicine," Argyle said as Layla cleaned her tools. Ignoring the slightly insulting context, she nodded.

"Happy to help." Replacing the items in her pack, she stood. "If there's any more trouble, let me know."

The doctor nodded, thanking her again as she and Boone left the building. The Courier looked around, hoping to catch a glimpse their other companion.

"Let's go find Veronica… I hope she hasn't gotten into mischief."

Boone nodded, keeping to himself any comments about who was usually the source of 'mischief.'

*.*.*

"There you are," Veronica heard Layla call to her. She and Boone were heading her way as she stood near the hangar.

"Are you okay?" the Courier asked. You kinda up and ran…"

Veronica gave her a sickly grin. "Sorry about that. Bone saws and open wounds aren't this girl's idea of a good time."

Layla grinned. "I don't know how someone who punches people into paste gets so worked up about medical stuff."

"Well, you get grossed out by my punching people into paste, even if you go rooting around organs all the time."

"Well, you've got me there," the girl said, then looked over Veronica's shoulder. "What's in the hanger?"

"I don't know. I spent most of the time out here looking at their Mr. Gutsys. They almost shot ED-E."

Layla gasped. "My baby!" She jumped up, grabbing the robot. "What did those mean old robot octopi do to you?"

The robot made an noise that sounded like an annoyed grunt. Layla laughed and let go of the eyebot, who chirped and hovered around her.

*.*.*

Boone stood on the edge of the roof, looking around the base and making general note of the locations of the guard towers and heavily defended areas. Behind him, Layla and Veronica were working to fix a group of solar panels. They'd met Loyal, the Boomer's chief mechanic. He'd been suspicious of them, but Layla talked him into giving them something to do.

Boone's mechanical knowledge was limited to a specific area: guns. He knew how to strip a rifle or pistol down and reassemble it in under a minute. When Layla had explained to him how they had to realign and polish the photovoltaic cells, and that doing so would boost the output significantly, he was completely lost. Veronica had told him to 'stand around and look pretty' and that they'd call him if they needed him.

He continued scanning the compound, musing about the girls behind him. When he and Layla had first reached the 188 trading post, he'd almost immediately picked Veronica out of the others milling around. It wasn't hard, given her unusual outfit and the fact that she'd been watching them since they arrived. She'd seemed friendly enough, but Boone hadn't liked how eager she was to join them. He especially hadn't liked how she looked at his 1st Recon beret and asked Layla what she thought about the Brotherhood of Steel in nearly the next heartbeat.

She'd readily admitted her allegiance after Layla had agreed to travel with her. The Courier had been cautious at first, but eventually told her it was okay, as long as she didn't lie about anything else. It hadn't taken long for the girls to become friends.

Boone, on the other hand, had watched the scribe like a hawk for the first few days. The expected treachery hadn't come, however, and eventually he'd accepted Layla's judgment of the other girl. Since then, she and Boone had struck up a casual friendship. They both came from military backgrounds, even if on opposing sides, so their minds tended go in the same direction at times of crisis. While he trusted Veronica, he certainly hadn't let his guard down with the rest of the Brotherhood, a policy he was pretty sure Layla shared.

While Layla and Veronica had always had an easy and close relationship, Boone noticed it hadn't been as smooth in the last few weeks. At first, he'd chalked it up to Layla's kidnapping; the man who'd helped raise the scribe had hurt Layla and others. To make things more complicated, Layla had been the one to kill him in the end. It had been justified, but the sniper could understand there being some friction between the two girls afterward. It was the kind of thing Layla would let stand for a while before she'd demand to talk about it with Veronica, then they'd be able to move on and that would be that.

Only that hadn't been that. It was weeks later, and there were still occasional awkward snaps in their everyday activity, like today at the medical building. Boone didn't claim to understand people, much less women, but it was unlike Layla to let something fester between herself and someone else, especially a close friend. He couldn't even begin to guess what the problem was, and he certainly wasn't going to try. If either girl wanted his advice, which he doubted, they knew to just ask him. So he stayed out of it.

"Boone, ergh, could you hold this up for me?" Layla grunted. Turning their way, he found the girl struggling to hold up one of the glass panels. Veronica was already holding another in place with no trouble. Boone moved to the Courier and took the panel from her, careful to keep his hands where she directed him.

*.*.*

"Well, once you're sixteen, you start small arms training, but most kids get a least a .22 in their hands by the time they're ten," a middle-aged Boomer named Charlie explained. They'd found the man looking over one of the howitzers near the southern stretch of the base.

"I gotcha," Layla said. She wasn't faking her interest, and apparently the grizzled Boomer appreciated her enthusiasm. "How do you decide what guns to specialize in?"

"When you hit sixteen, you take your G.O.A.T."

"Goat?" she asked.

"General Occupational Aptitude Test."

"Oooooh, okay."

"Anyway, you take your G.O.A.T. and it determines your occupation and combat specialization. It's from our Vault days. Guess it stuck."

"Hm." Layla looked around thoughtfully. "So I take it you folks are happy here in Nellis?"

"Oh sure, it had just the kind of supplies we needed as a society." Charlie grinned, patting the howitzer.

"I thought Pete said these were dragged these over from Area 2?" said Layla.

"Talked to Pete did you?" The man sounded impressed.

"Yep," she answered. The three of them had spent a large part of the afternoon listening to the entire history of the Boomers from the 'Keeper of the Story.'

"He said it took weeks to get them here."

"Well yes, we did find these elsewhere, but the base had enough munitions for our needs."

"I'd hope so," Layla said with a laugh. She looked at the howitzer. "So… can I fire it?"

Veronica and Boone both looked at each other, then at the Courier. This couldn't end well. The Boomer was giving her a mildly suspicious look, but it eventually melted under Layla's eyelash batting barrage.

"All right, you can be my assistant gunner."

"Does that mean I get to fire it?"

"Yes."

"Whoo hoo!"

Charlie laughed as they moved up to the gun. "All right, stand here." He positioned the girl on the opposite side of the weapon.

"Now, if we were shelling a real live target, we'd have a team of six, but we can manage with just the two of us. Your position would be in charge of opening and closing the breech and working the firing mechanism. I've got the gunner position, so I'll set the target." He looked up at the ruined town beyond the base.

"There's still a few intact cars down there." Charlie flashed her a grin. "Wanna blow one up?"

"Do I?"

Veronica shook her head in amazement as the Boomer loaded the gun, explaining the process as he went. She looked at Boone, who was watching with mild interest.

"All right," Charlie said, "Now I've got the target set and we're loaded. See that cord?"

"Uh huh," Layla said.

"Give it a pull."

Layla's eyes were shining as she took the cord. "How loud is this thing?"

"Very," Charlie answered, smiling.

"Okay, here goes." She grinned broadly at her companions, then pulled the cord. The howitzer's report was deafening, and a moment later a car from the nearby town exploded, sending a mushroom cloud into the sky.

"YEAH!" Layla hopped up and down excitedly.

Charlie had started explaining the range and accuracy of the weapon when Boone nudged Veronica, pointing out a woman coming their way with a particularly sour look on her face.

"That's the one who took Layla in at gunpoint," the sniper murmured.

"She looks like a peach." Veronica didn't like the way the woman was sneering at them.

"Charlie!" the woman barked, not acknowledging any of the visitors. Layla jumped, nearly knocking into the man as he was pointing out how the elevation of the gun effected the range. He stopped and turned to the new arrival.

"Why are you giving away tactical information to these savages?" the woman continued. Veronica noticed the look on Layla's face; somewhere between offended and hurt. Quite frankly, the scribe was thinking about letting the next one of these crazies who called her 'savage' see how primitive her displacer glove was.

"Mother Pearl said to be welcoming, Raquel," Charlie said. He leveled a smile at Layla. "For savages, they have a good eye for weapons," he said, nodding in the direction of the still-smoking car.

Layla smiled at that, which seemed to anger Raquel further. "Mother Pearl also said they weren't to be trusted until they made their true intentions known." She glowered at the Courier. "For all we know they're spying on us, planning on bringing their armies here to take our base."

"Hey now, no need for that. We're just curious about your culture," Layla said, seeming to have regained her balance. "Can't help it if you're culture has an awesome fixation on guns."

Raquel continued to glare at them, but her voice took on a tone of forced civility. "It's almost night. The elder has offered you bunks in our barracks." She sounded like relaying the information pained her. "Tomorrow maybe you can help us with our ant problem, though I'm sure it's more than a pack of savages can handle."

Layla gave her a grin. "Have you seen the ants we've got out in the wastes? I bet these don't even breath fire."

The Master-At-Arms gave her a cold smile, "No, but they explode if you shoot them."

The Courier's eyes widened, and found herself unable to come up with a witty reply.

"Well, come along. I'll show you the barracks. You two will be in the women's," she said, indicating Layla and Veronica. "And you in the men's." She gestured to Boone.

Veronica saw the sniper stiffen. He undoubtedly didn't like the idea of getting separated. Layla nodded, not looking particularly fazed by this turn of events.

"That'll be fine, thank you." She gave Boone a reassuring look. He still didn't look happy, but didn't challenge it either. Layla turned to back to the older Boomer, smiling. "Thank you, Charlie."

"Any time," he answered, shooting Raquel a grin.

"Let's go," the master-at-arms said testily. She turned and walked away, letting the 'savages' follow behind.


	4. Evolution of Heat

Boone woke up a little after daybreak. The others in the barracks were starting to stir as well. The men had been cautious about him, but polite. They'd even asked him to join a card game last night. He'd agreed, figuring he should do his part to get the Boomers on their side.

They had played a variant of poker, with most of the terms changed to types of ammunition and explosives. There were a few extra rules that could affect the other player's cards. The only hand he'd won during the night had been when one of his two pairs made 'C4' which had 'blown up' the opposing three of a kind.

Boone found he had enjoyed the game, and the rules, and planned to try it with Raul when they got back to the 38. More importantly, he'd gotten to know the group he'd bunked with, and they seemed a little more accepting of him and the others.

Stepping out of the barracks, he looked out across the base. The Boomers were a little… strange, but they certainly had set themselves up well. He had to admit they were growing on him.

"Boone!"

He turned to see Veronica rushing up to him. "Layla's been kidnapped by Red-Brick. They say they'll only let her go for a hostage exchange."

"_What?_" He knew he shouldn't have let the Boomers separate them. The fuckers had smiled and played games with him while they'd schemed to grab the Courier. If they'd hurt her in any way, he'd-

"We need to find Mr. Cuddles so we can do the exchange," the scribe continued.

"…What?"

"Mr. Cuddles, the bear."

He reserved glares like the one he was currently giving her for special occasions. She turned away, grinning.

"Let's go!"

*.*.*

It took more than an hour to find the damn bear. It was sitting on a crate in the hangar. Loyal had given them looks that bordered between suspicious and amused.

Boone knocked on the door of the school house. A moment later, a boy with a helmet opened the door.

"Here's your bear," the sniper said, holding out the toy. Veronica elbowed him in the side.

"Boone! Do it right."

Sighing deeply, he turned back to the boy. "We're here for the prisoner exchange."

"All right." The kid gave him a serious look. "Keep your hands where we can see them and no funny business." He led them into the bunker, where a group of children were gathered around Layla, sitting on the floor. She smiled when she saw them come in, then adopted an exaggerated look of defeat as she stood. Boone noticed her hands were 'bound' with a plastic ring she had to hold to keep from falling off.

A girl stepped forward. "Give us Mr. Cuddles and we'll let her go."

"Oh no," Veronica said suspiciously. "How do we know you won't just gun her down once you've got the bear?"

"You have my word that we won't," one boy said, sounding awfully serious. He wore a headdress made out of various office supplies and seemed to be in charge.

"All right Red-Brick," Veronica said to the boy, "we believe you." She nodded to Boone, who handed over the stuffed toy. Layla was ushered forward, one of the kids taking the ring off her hands.

"My heroes!" the Courier said, throwing her arms around both Boone and Veronica's necks. She stayed there for a moment, then started laughing evilly.

"Fools!" She turned suddenly to the children. "I was a velociraptor the whole time!"

"I knew it!" the kid with the helmet cried. Layla then took off in a run, chasing the squealing kids around the room. Boone watched them for a moment before turning an exasperated look to Veronica.

"Have you found anything out?" Clearly they'd been looking around before he'd gotten up. Hopefully they'd come up with something to do to ingratiate themselves to the Boomers.

"Well," Veronica said, "Jack apparently is in love with a girl outside he's only seen through binoculars, she'd been looking at him the whole time through her binoculars, so Jack's not even sure if she'd noticed him. But he's in love, so we're gonna go have a talk with the girl later and see if we can't get them together."

Boone sighed.

*.*.*

It was nearly noon by the time they'd given up waiting for Raquel, who they'd promised to help with the base's ant problem. So they'd gone around the base, talking with a few of the people they met along the way. Now Layla stood in the graveyard in the far end of gated area of the base, listening.

She jumped when she heard footfalls behind her. Veronica approached with an odd look on her face.

"What are you doing?"

"Shh… The kid with the helmet said you can hear ghosts here."

The scribe was quiet for a few moments before she spoke again. "I think we need to talk."

Layla sighed. She was right. She gestured away from the graves. "Come on, the dead don't need to hear our problems."

They moved toward a group of rocks that jutted out from the uneven ground. Boone was up in the guard tower, talking with the Boomers keeping watch. He was definitely warming up to the group. They in turn seemed impressed with his military knowledge and ability with his rifle.

Sitting on a rock, the Courier motioned to Veronica, indicating she go first. The scribe frowned, probably hoping she'd be the one to start.

"Why is it we're still acting all weird?" she said finally.

Layla frowned and bit her lip. She had tried not to let what happened at the Sierra Madre affect their friendship, and for the most part it hadn't. Veronica hadn't been to blame for her trouble there. It had been Christine's involvement that had been the issue. Layla dearly hated keeping secrets from her friends, and the one she harbored was a particularly large bombshell: She'd found Veronica's former girlfriend, who had been manipulated by the Brotherhood into leaving her to track Elijah and had decided to stay at the Sierra Madre to guard its dangerous secrets.

But Christine had made it very clear that she intended to remain at the Sierra Madre and didn't want Veronica coming to find her. She'd also made Layla swear she wouldn't tell Veronica her whereabouts. The Courier did not give her word lightly, so now she was stuck with a huge secret that was creating a wedge between her and her friend. The scribe looked at her expectantly, and Layla realized she hadn't answered, thinking too hard again.

"I can't tell you," she said. It was the only part of the truth she could give.

Veronica sighed heavily. "It's something that happened at the Sierra Madre, isn't it? Did Elijah tell you something I couldn't know? Or did he do something to you?" She said the last part with a sick look on her face.

"No, he didn't do anything!" Layla said quickly, not wanting her friend to think anything horrid had happened. "Well, besides the kidnapping, and he shot me the one time, but nothing else." She frowned at the upset look on the scribe's face.

"I… I can't tell you. Even if I could, it wouldn't change anything…" That was true. Christine wasn't leaving, she didn't want Veronica there, and Elijah was dead. Nothing good would come of her knowing.

"Please, Veronica, just trust me."

The scribe's face clouded, and Layla looked away. Neither spoke until Boone showed up. If the Courier hadn't been so glum, she'd find his slow, wary approach amusing. He probably didn't want to get in the middle of what was going on.

"Hey," he said, looking at both girls, "So what's next? We gonna help that kid meet the love of his life?"

"Why, Boone, I didn't know you were a romantic," Veronica said, a grin forming on her face.

"Yeah, I'm just a big softy," he said flatly.

*.*.*

"This isn't going to ingratiate us further with Raquel," Layla said as they escorted Janet through the bombed-out town. The girl had agreed to come with them to meet the Jack. As it turned out, she had been pining for him as well.

Layla would have considered the whole thing ridiculous, but who was she to give out relationship advice? It was kind of sweet in a messed up way. Mother Pearl had given her blessing for the woman to visit the base, and Janet now wore a Boomer jumpsuit to fit in with the rest. Layla had been slightly jealous of the suit… She wanted one. They were festooned with ribbons and medals, and she had a slowly growing Vault suit collection to consider.

"What?" Veronica said moodily. "Because we're bringing in more outsiders? Screw her. She needs a swift kick in the a-"

The woman in question stepped out as they neared the gate. She gave the group a sour look, but it morphed into a sneer as she looked at Janet.

"Who are you? You're not a Boomer." She brought her grenade machinegun to bear, aiming at the rapidly paling Janet.

"WOAH!" Layla moved to step in front of the girl, but Boone beat her to it. "Calm down!" the Courier said. "She's been cleared to come in by Mother Pearl. She's going to meet Jack."

There was a tense silence, and Layla stepped in front of Boone with a glower. "Well? Are you gonna let us in? I thought you had an ant problem that needed fixing."

The woman's sneer remained in place, but she lowered the weapon. "Fine, after you bring her to Jack, you can deal with the ants." The woman smiled. "They're in the generator room. Loyal's got some kind of sonic device that may help you."

The Courier merely stared at the woman, not liking the way she was smiling at her.

"Um, thanks?"

"And don't forget, the ants explode if you hit them with energy weapons or explosives." There it was. The woman probably hoped they'd be blown up.

"Ah," Layla said, ignoring the mildly sinister look the master-at-arms was giving her. "ED-E! Guess who gets to stay with Jack and Janet."

*.*.*

Layla ran her ass off as a group of huge ants followed her. Boone and Veronica had been mopping up the insects that had poured from a side passage when she'd spotted the ant nest. Breaking away from the others, she started for it, only to find a group of the giant ants closing in on her.

She carefully climbed up the ant nest and set the sonic emitter Loyal had given her on the lip of the mound. Once it was on, it was supposed to kill the creatures with a burst of high frequency sound. Grinning triumphantly, she turned to the huge insects.

"Ha HA! Stupid ants, see how you like this!" She flicked the power switch on the box. For a moment, nothing happened, and Layla thought she was going be murdered by giant ants. Then the creatures stopped walking and started twitching. At the same time, the Courier felt her insides start twisting as her inner ear went haywire. She slumped to the ground with a groan as the ants around her started exploding.

Veronica dodged the exploding insects to reach her. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"Veronica," Layla moaned, "come here." The scribe moved closer, eyeing the emitter with a knowing look.

"Brain breaking, leaking out ears," the Courier mumbled. "You're going to have to take care of Boone for me…"

"What do you mean 'take care of?' I don't do straight stuff-"

"Shut up."

"What's wrong?" Boone asked as he reached them. He knelt next to the Courier, scanning her for injuries.

"Sound waves at that high a frequency can cause issues for people with low endurance. Nausea, disorientation, weakness, all that. Guess who's got low endurance."

The sniper gently helped Layla to her feet. She groaned again, slumping and almost hitting the ground before he caught her.

"No, let the ants kill me. Less painful."

"They're all dead," Veronica said as Boone slung Layla over his shoulder. "Let's just get away from the emitter and you'll be fine."

"Nooooo…. Dying."

"Quit whining."

They started walking for the entrance, when Veronica remembered their second objective.

"Oh, hold on, I gotta turn on the generator."

"I wanna do it…" Layla's voice came from behind Boone's back.

"All right," the scribe replied. "Go on and walk up the three flights of stairs to get to the switch."

There was silence for a few seconds before the Courier answered, "I don't want to do it, you can do it."

"Uh huh." Veronica grinned to herself as she started up the stairs. Layla tried to share when it came to just about everything, but she always seemed to be the one who got to turn on the stupid devices they found. Now it was Veronica's turn to hit the button.

"Say the line," the Courier called weakly to her as she neared the generator.

"Oh come on. It wasn't funny the first time. It will never be funny."

"Do it." The plaintive quality in her wavering voice made the scribe sigh loudly. She glanced over the railing to see Boone looking up at her, Layla still over his shoulder. Veronica knew that face: strained patience.

"Oh fine." She double checked the connections and took the lever in her hands. "Let there be light," she called loudly and threw the lever.

There was a booming noise, then a lot of whirring as the generators began powering up.

"Can we get away from the loud?" Layla said from behind Boone, sounding sick. "Loud hurts."

Veronica hopped down the last few steps, landing next to the other two. She gave Boone a sympathetic look. "Let's go before she pukes all over your back."

"Hurry," came from behind him.

* * *

><p>Thanks again for all my reviews and favorites and alerts! I'd also like to take a moment to thank my editor: Thank you! :D Believe me, these stories would be a jumbled mess of terrible without him.<p>

I hope our PS3 friends will be able to get their Honest Hearts soon. As for me, I wrote my ass off the last few days so I had some time to play. I'll see you folks on Saturday!


	5. Initiation of Reaction

"The Lady," Loyal said. "She's a pre-war bomber still intact at the bottom of the lake. It's been our dream to raise the Lady out of Lake Mead. We were able to get many spare parts from another plane, but with the Lady we can make the plane whole."

Layla wondered briefly if helping the half-crazed, xenophobic Boomers recover a plane that could drop bombs was wise, then dismissed the concern. Mother Pearl had told them to go to the chief engineer now that they were trusted by the Boomers as a whole. "What do you need us to do?"

Loyal smiled. He started towards one of his work benches and Layla, Veronica and Boone followed.

"You'll be able to raise her with these self-deploying ballasts," he said, lifting two packs and depositing them into Boone's arms.

"Let me see your Pip-Boy," he said. Layla held up the device on her arm, and the man fiddled with his own. There was a small beep.

"That's the location in the lake. Just put the ballasts under the wings, close to the body, and detonate them from the shore with this." He handed a detonator to Layla, who grinned broadly.

*.*.*

"'Captain Dean Boat Rentals.'" Veronica read aloud.

"Oh! Ice Cream!" Layla said, also reading the sign in front of the small building.

"I don't think you want 200-year-old ice cream," Veronica said flatly.

"Maybe it's freeze-dried space ice cream!"

"I doubt it."

"Aw, you're no fun. Let's go take a looky-loo. Maybe there's something good."

Ten minutes later, both girls were trying very hard not to fight over the bathing suits they'd found in the shack while Boone resolutely kept out of it. They'd found him a pair of swim trunks too. They were a little shorter than he'd like, but it was better than his underwear. The girls' choice was between a dark green, strapless suit in nearly perfect condition and a stained, pale blue halter-top.

Layla let out a labored sigh, "All right, there's only one way to do this. Shoot for it."

"Fine," Veronica agreed. "Winner gets first pick."

"Right." They both held out their hands.

"One. Two. Three. Shoot!" Layla stuck two fingers out while Veronica made a first.

"HA!" the scribe laughed. "I win!"

"Yeah…" The Courier made a sad face at the green suit and picked up the stained blue one.

"Nope, I want that one," Veronica said.

"What? No you don't. You want the green one."

"Doesn't matter, I won. Give me my suit."

Layla hesitated, and the scribe snatched the bundle from her hands, replacing it with the green suit. The Courier looked at the bathing suit, starting to smile.

"Are you sure?"

"_Yes_, now let's go try them on."

Boone shook his head as both girls disappeared back into the boat house, glad he'd kept out of the whole mess. Instead of dwelling on it, he picked off a Lakelurk on the other side of the shore.

*.*.*

"All right, I guess I'd better test the rebreathers, huh?" Layla said after spending a good ten minutes admiring her new bathing suit.

"Probably a good idea," Veronica said. They'd managed to get some of the stain off of hers. It was fairly presentable now. "You're the one who told Jack to stuff them with glue and corn husks."

"Corn _silk_, and they should work fine." She dropped her pack on the dock and dug out the breathing apparatus the apprentice mechanic had made. "Who's gonna go with me?"

"Who said you were going?" Veronica said incredulously. "You're Lakelurk bait, remember?"

Layla frowned. "I wanna breath underwater."

"Probably shouldn't stay up here alone anyway," Boone added. Veronica looked in his direction.

"She'd have ED-E."

The sniper frowned at that, and Veronica understood. Knowing Layla, the minute they went underwater, she'd be stung by Cazadores, carried off by a Lakelurk, rescued by mercenaries who'd then kidnap her. She sighed.

"All right, I'll stay."

"You sure?" the Courier said, searching her face.

"Yeah, I'm not looking to get groped underwater by lakelurks anyway."

Layla glowered at her while handing the second rebreather to Boone. The sniper looked at the device, then back at the Courier.

"Before we do this, let's go over some hand signals," he said.

"Huh?"

"You said you wanted to learn some hand signals. Now's a good time. We won't be able to talk underwater."

"Careful, Boone," Veronica spoke up. "Underwater is probably the only place you can keep her quiet. Give her the ability to communicate, and she'll never shut up."

"Har har har." Layla gave the scribe a sarcastic look. "Coming from you? That's rich." She turned back to Boone.

"Are these military signals?"

"Yeah."

"Neat." She turned to Veronica. "Do you want to get in on this?"

"No thanks," the scribe said. She sat on the dock, sticking her feet in the water.

They started going over various signals while Veronica tinkered with a broken camera they'd found in Captain Dean's shack. The Courier seemed to pick up most of them fairly easily.

"Okay, tell me something," Boone said after a few more minutes of practice.

Layla bit her lip, then signaled, _You. Sniper. Cover. Me. _She then indicated Veronica, who had rejoined them. _Enemy. Gas. Vehicle._

The scribe gave her an annoyed look before signaling, _I understand. You. _-and the Courier was pretty sure she was supposed to take the signal for 'dog' to mean something else.

"Huh… so the Brotherhood uses the same signals, huh?" Layla said.

"Yeah."

"Good to know." Layla then tapped her forearm with her palm, then slid the hand down her arm.

"What does that mean?" Veronica asked.

"Bunt on the second pitch."

"Cute. Go try the rebreather already."

The Courier picked the device from where she'd left it and stepped off the dock. She'd strapped the breather to her head just as Boone had jumped off the dock. Giving Veronica a thumbs up, she dove under the water.

There were a few bubbles, then a moment later, she resurfaced. She pulled the rebreather off her face.

"It works!" she cried, grinning from ear to ear. She looked to Boone. "Let me try that one." The sniper frowned.

"I can test it."

"Come on, I'm the one who told Jack to shove corn silk in the thing. I'm the one who's gonna test it. If I get a lungful of water, so be it."

"You're the only one who knows CPR," the sniper said, still not moving.

"I'm not gonna keep breathing water in if it doesn't work!"

Veronica watched from the dock, grinning as Boone reluctantly handed over the device. Layla shoved it over her face and went under. A moment later she resurfaced again.

"This one's good too!" She handed it back to Boone, then addressed Veronica. "All right, this shouldn't take too long, barring any Lakelurk attacks…" The Courier frowned at the thought. "If we're not back in oh… twenty minutes, then tell everyone I died as I lived: doing something ridiculous."

"I'll be sure to do that."

"Good." Veronica handed them a ballast each. Layla looked over her Pip-Boy for a moment, then turned her gaze to Boone.

"Okay, the spot's supposed to be there." She pointed Southeast, then showed him the map to be sure. "I'm gonna call it now that I'm gonna get lost unless I keep the map up to my face… so you're on Lakelurk look… lurk."

He floated next to her, giving her the blank look that usually accompanied her terrible jokes.

"You gonna be okay up here?" Layla asked Veronica as Boone studied her Pip-Boy.

"I'll manage," said the scribe.

"All right, let's do this." Soon, they both dove under the water, rebreathers strapped to their faces. Veronica watched as they faded from view. Part of her wanted to worry. The rebreathers could give out at any moment for all they knew, and this water usually swarmed with Lakelurks. She didn't give it too much thought, though. Layla knew what she was doing mechanically, and Boone could certainly kill any problems that came up.

When they'd first met, Veronica had made the mistake of thinking Boone was a typical NCR military meat head. He barely spoke and was the size of a barn, so it was an honest mistake. That opinion had faded quickly as she realized he was just quietly observing everything he came across. He was pretty quick on the ball when it came to combat tactics and ever vigilant toward threats. On top of all that, he managed to be a gentleman without coming off as sexist; a rather rare trait for a military man.

The scribe had briefly thought about turning on the charm with Layla when they'd first met. She didn't meet the 'leggy' criteria Veronica normally went for, but she'd been pretty good to go otherwise. But after seeing her and Boone together, she assumed the two were an item. That had been an honest mistake too; Layla was always teasing him and Boone was as protective as a deranged mother bear. Layla had quickly and red-facedly explained they were just partners, turned a darker red and further explained that she meant they were friends who worked together. It hadn't been hard to figure out where they stood: in a confused mess of emotions.

It had been much easier to tell where she and Boone stood; One quiet evening in the 38, she'd told Boone about Christine and how things hadn't worked out. He'd gone on to tell her about the kidnapping and deaths of Carla and his unborn child. Veronica had been rather proud of herself for not dissolving into tears at the story. Since then, they'd been friends, despite their conflicting backgrounds.

The whole group had accepted her, counting her more as one of them than a Brotherhood member. Honestly, she'd begun to think of herself that way as well. The scribe hadn't given up on her family, and Layla had promised her she'd ask Mother Pearl about the Pulse Gun once they got the Lady off the lake floor. Once they had the gun, she'd be able to convince Elder McNamara that change had to come.

*.*.*

The floor of the lake was beautiful. Fish swam through the plants growing from the lake floor, making green speckled with silver. Boone saw that Layla was just looking around, not heading for their objective. He'd wanted to motion for them to move on, but he didn't see any lakelurks in the area, and she seemed to be enjoying herself.

Eventually Layla looked at her Pip-Boy and continued on. It wasn't long before they could make out a large, dark shape in the water. The bomber that lie on the bottom of the lake looked in as good a condition as Loyal had suggested.

The Courier swam near one of the wings and adhered the ballast near the body. She started to move to the other side and looked Boone's way, signaling him to come to her. Just as he started, a lakelurk darted out from under the wing, bee-lining for Layla.

Boone signaled to her quickly before moving to fend the thing off. Before he could reach them, Layla had pulled the Cosmic Knife from her belt. The 'space aged' knife cut through the lakelurk like it was wet paper. The creature flailed as she sliced its abdomen to ribbons.

Boone reached them soon after and yanked the thing further away from the girl, taking most of its head off with his machete. He'd expected it to float to the top of the water once it stopped moving, but it just floated near him.

Soon they had both ballasts in place, and Layla signaled to head back to their 'rally point.' Boone found himself suspicious of how easily that had gone.

*.*.*

Veronica looked out a the lake, bored. She watched ED-E as he buzzed around her. Beyond the eyebot was Captain Dean's boat garage. The scribe realized they hadn't checked out the garage and started for it, hoping to find a nicer bathing suit.

Stepping in, it took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. It wasn't until she got a good ten yards into the room that she noticed the cazador nests.

"Oh… Fuck."

ED-E started beeping insistently as the insects spewed from their paper nests. Veronica groaned; she'd left her power fist by the dock. Not giving the things a chance to swarm her, she ran from the boat house, going for her discarded displacer glove.

Just as she got the device on her arm, the first of the insects was on her. Fortunately, they seemed to be young, no huge adult ones. ED-E blasted a hole in the nearest cazador as the scribe punched another out of existence. Two more were down before one got past her punch and stuck her in the gut.

"Ah! Oh you fucker!" Veronica was actually angrier about her suit sporting a hole than about the sting. She reduced the mutated insect to paste in retaliation. ED-E had managed to down all but one, and it was hobbling lamely on its legs. The robot gave a victorious bleep as it fried the creature.

Veronica groaned as she felt the poison spread. Once again thankful it hadn't been a more potent adult, she quickly made for Layla's backpack. She pulled out the Courier's medical equipment and quickly found a dose of antivenom.

Sinking down to sit on the dock, she downed the bottle's contents and felt the cooling effect work against the poison in her system. She stuck her feet in the water with a sigh. ED-E buzzed around her, and she let him keep watch.

A few moments later, Layla's head bobbed above the water, shortly followed by Boone. Pulling her rebreather off, Layla grinned up at the scribe.

"Hey! You've got to try these things, the lake is really… What happened to your suit?"

Before Veronica could answer, she saw Layla's eyes wander to the cazadores all over the shore. She quickly pulled herself up onto the dock.

"Holy shit!" She looked down at the wound, "What the hell happened?"

"Captain Dean's boats are full of nests."

The Courier noted the discarded antivenom bottle as she hurriedly pulled some bandages from her supplies. Excusing herself as she pulled the other woman's suit open, she started cleaning the wound and pressed a bandage to it. Veronica caught sight of Boone poking his head into the garage, rifle in hand, probably checking to make sure the creatures were all dead.

Layla finished dressing Veronica's wound and gave the blue fabric a sad look. "Your suit..."

"Yeah, good thing I didn't wear the nice one, huh?"

"I can fix it…" Layla said, giving the ripped garment a careful look. "I might just get rid of the whole panel and replace it, take the stained part with it…"

"We can worry about it later… Did you get the ballasts on?"

"Oh. Yeah, hold on."

The girl turned and started digging through her pack. A moment later, she handed the scribe the detonator.

"Go on, you've earned it," she said before Veronica could argue.

Getting to her feet, Veronica looked out to the water.

"Ready?"

"Yeah, do it."

The scribe pulled the trigger. There was loud rumbling noise, and a few moments later, a huge plane surfaced, floating on the water.

Veronica whistled. "That's some lady."

*.*.*

"You've made our dearest dream come true. Is there anything we can do for you?" Mother Pearl looked close to tears.

"We were happy to help," Layla said automatically. Veronica raised an eyebrow. They were supposed to be making a treaty here. She elbowed the Courier.

"Oh!" Layla frowned, she was supposed to ask the Boomers to aid House…but she had also been asked by Ambassador Crocker to do the same for the NCR. She noticed Pearl was looking at her funny and spoke.

"Now that you'll have the bomber, do you know what you're going to do about the coming battle?"

"You have our support," Pearl smiled. "We will use the Lady against whatever enemies you choose to fight. The Youngers will be very interested in putting their training to use."

Layla smiled. She wouldn't have to decide where her loyalties lied yet, ignoring the insistent part of her head that told her that she'd have to decide soon. "Thank you. We'll be back with more details later," Layla said. There was an oddly guarded look on her face. It cleared a moment later.

"Can I ask you a personal favor, Mother Pearl?"

"Of course, child."

"Do you know anything about a weapon called a pulse gun? We were led to believe it was here."

Veronica looked at her friend, smiling. Layla shot back a grin.

"Let me think," said Pearl. "It's an electromagnetic pulse weapon, correct?" The Courier looked at Veronica, who nodded.

"Then I think I can help you…" The woman stood and moved to one of the filing cabinets that lined her barracks. After a few moments of rummaging, she handed a key and a paper to Layla. Both girl's looked at the sheet.

"It's in Vault 34?" Layla said, looking up from the pre-war orders depicting its transfer. "Your old Vault?"

"Yes. I warn you child, you may not be able to reach it. When we left, the Vault was on the brink of war."

Layla tucked the paper and the key in her pocket and nodded. "We'll be careful. Thank you, Mother Pearl."

The older woman smiled. "No, thank you, dear. Please come back to see us. You and your friends are always welcome at Nellis."

A huge smile spread across the Courier's face. "Thank you."

"Now go on, I'm sure you've got things to do." Pearl saw them to the door. "Oh, and it looks like the children have some gifts for you before you go."

Outside, they found the mini Boomers did indeed have gifts for them. The kid with the helmet handed Veronica a flight helmet. The girl with Mr. Cuddles gave Boone one of the bullet necklaces most of them sported, and Red-Brick presented Layla with her own Boomer flight suit.

"Thank you!" The Courier was grinning broadly now, looking at her ridiculously ribboned and medal-adorned suit. She looked down and addressed the children.

"We'll be back to visit. You kids be good."

There was a chorus of 'we will's, as they made their way toward the gate.

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading! In response to Dajun - Shinespark's question, I'm on an Xbox. I think my copy of New Vegas knows I love it, I haven't had any glitches (Sans the occasional stretchy dead enemy). *knock on wood*<p>

Well, Honest Hearts has answered a very important question for me, and it's better than the answer I wanted. Delightful.

See you all on Tuesday!

*Typo fixed! Thank you Short Ninja :)


	6. Statement

Sorry about the delay, there were a lot of revisions to this chapter. Also, I might switch post days to Wednesday/Saturdays...Tuesdays are little hectic for me. :S Anyway, in response to the question about Honest Hearts: I thought it was very good (especially if you do a lot of survival stuff). The Burned Man is awesome.

Anywho, enjoy the new chapter, we'll be concluding Boomtown on Saturday (and hopefully I'll have thought of a title for the Honest Hearts story by then).

* * *

><p>"Here we go." Layla said, pulling the radiation suits from her wardrobe. They'd taken two steps into Vault 34's entryway when her Pip-Boy's Geiger counter went crazy. More than a little worried, they'd headed back to Novac to stock up on various radiation deterrents.<p>

"How is it I've never been in here?" Veronica said, looking around the Courier's hotel room in Novac. "I've come to Novac with you a bunch of times."

"Well…" Layla sounded a little hesitant. "This is my secret stash spot. Only Boone and Raul knew about it, and Raul only did because we stumbled here after the Fort."

"Oh, so you have stashes I can't know about?" The scribe sounded mildly offended.

"Don't be jealous. You're here now." She held out the suit to the other girl. "Try it on."

Soon the scribe's face was obscured in the radiation suit's hazy mask.

"Does it make me look fat?" her muffled voice quipped.

"No more than normal," Layla said. "Good, I've got one, you've got one…" She looked at Boone. "Hrm…"

Boone didn't like the smile that had formed on her face and was now aimed at him.

*.*.*

Later, back near the Vault 34 entrance, Layla was frowning at her sniper companion.

"Put it on," she said.

"No."

"You've already got the rest of it on. It's not going to work without the helmet." Boone had thought the Courier had been kidding when she handed him the spacesuit the Bright Brotherhood had given her. Turned out it was his size, but it was also ridiculous.

"Too much radiation and you'll be facing some serious side effects, including ghouification," said Layla, hands on her hips. "Do you want to live forever?"

Boone grumbled and pulled on the fishbowl helmet.

"See? It's not so bad," Layla said, slipping her own helmet on. "At least you can probably see in that thing." She grinned. "And I hear it's pretty hard to become an astronaut. You should be proud."

"We just need to get you a laser gun, and you can solve space mysteries," Veronica added. "'Space Boone of the Star Rangers!'" She looked at Boone. The scribe definitely recognized strained patients when she saw it.

Soon they approached the door and Layla's Pip-Boy started clicking insistently. Everyone had already taken a dose of Rad-X, and she had a good supply of Rad Away in her pack. Even with their preparation, she hesitated at the entrance.

"I've got a bad feeling about this…" she said.

"That's new," Veronica said, frowning. "We don't have to go in if you don't want to…"

"No, we'll go. It's just…" Layla looked at the other two. "Just let's be real careful. I don't know why, I've just got a really bad feeling there's something wrong with this place."

"Well, we weren't planning on running face-first into irradiated landmines," the scribe answered.

"All right," Layla said, realizing she was stalling. "Let's go."

*.*.*

The Vault was a mess, and surprisingly loud. Debris was strewn around every surface. They hadn't found anyone so far, but there were a lot of noises from the machinery lower in the structure. Layla had to guess there was something wrong with it; it was all hissing and clanking a lot more than it should be.

"Getting anything, ED-E?" Layla whispered to the eyebot, who chirped in response.

Her Pip-Boy wasn't picking up any motion, not even from the robot's enhanced sensors. ED-E beeped again, and suddenly her motion sensor picked up enough blips to fill the screen with red.

"Oh crap, something's coming!"

A pack of feral ghouls came streaming into the hallway. ED-E let off a peel of laser fire into the closest one as Veronica surged forward and slammed her powergloved fist into the first ghoul she reached. Layla was crouched near the wall, shooting her magnum into the middle of the group without aiming for specific targets. Boone stood behind her, picking off the stragglers at the back of the hall and occasionally targeting a feral that had gotten past Veronica.

A few moments later, Layla whistled at the huge pile of dead ghouls.

"When did we become a cohesive group?"

"When we gave up trying to get you to aim and gave you a big enough caliber that you couldn't miss," Veronica's muffled voice answered.

"I thought it was because you finally stopped with the cheesy one-liners?"

"Ho ho ho! Aren't we darling?" the scribe answered dryly.

Layla had been about to respond when one of the dead ghouls at her feet caught her eye. Bending down, she examined its clothing. It was vault security armor.

"Vault Dwellers," Boone said grimly, noticing her examinations. "Must have been a leak in their reactor."

"Yeah." Layla stood, frowning at the body. Best she could tell from the Vault's door's console, there had been no way to open it from the inside. "Poor bastards…" Straightening, she looked at her companions. "All right, everyone still feeling good? If either of you start feeling weak, woozy or overly hot then we need to beat feet back outside and give you a dose or two of RadAway."

"I'm good," Veronica said.

"Yeah," Boone agreed. "What about you?"

"Yeah yeah, I'm fine," Layla said. "Let's keep going…" She trailed off as the reading on her Geiger counter suddenly spiked. "What the hell?" They hadn't moved, so it wasn't a stronger pocket they'd wandered into. Something suddenly crashed over her head, The blow was softened by her suit's helmet, but still sent her stumbling into the wall.

Looking behind her as she tried to regain her balance, she realized the radiation spike had been from the 'glowing one' that had just clobbered her over the head. The ghoul advancing on her was so saturated with radiation that it glowed green. Before she could aim her magnum, Boone leapt forward, machete in hand. She found the scene slightly surreal as he dodged a swing from the mutant before cleaving its head off, all while wearing a spacesuit.

"You okay?" he said to her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. We-"

"Space Boone, Star Ranger saves the day again!" Veronica laughed, disregarding the glare she received in response.

*.*.*

Finding the armory locked, they began searching for the overseer's office, hoping to find a key or a way to open it remotely. They had run into more ghouls along the way, but had been able to fight them off without much difficulty.

It wasn't until a group had shown up behind them that the trouble started. Layla had just finished shooting a glowing one off Veronica's back when she felt hands grabbing her shoulders as she heard a scratchy, damaged voice rasp, "Get...out..."

Turning, she found another ghoul in a security uniform and three of his buddies coming up behind her.

She heard a rifle shot, and the armored ghoul's head exploded a moment later. With her arms free, she unloaded her magnum into the next one. These ferals had been a lot more cognizant than any others Layla had come across. This was made abundantly clear as one tossed a frag grenade in her direction.

Without thinking, the Courier dove away from the explosive. It detonated next to a pile of discarded filing cabinets, and suddenly everything went dark. She realized a moment later that something had landed on her visor. She nearly gagged when she realized it was what was left of a ghoul's torso.

"Oh gross," she sputtered without meaning to, shoving the gooey remains off. Through the blood-smeared plastic, she saw a two brightly-colored hulking figures stampeding her way. She nearly stumbled backward before realizing it was just Boone and Veronica in their suits.

"Are you okay?" Veronica's muffled voice filtered to her.

"Yeah, just... Ugh it's everywhere," Layla groaned at the dark red gore all over her suit. Standing, she winced at a stinging pain in her back. Reaching behind her to rub the spot, she realized her pack had fallen off as her hand grazed something. She pulled her arm back and found an eyeball stuck to her glove.

"AH!" She flung it off, and it hit the wall with a wet thud. Groaning, she tried to wipe some of the goo off.

"Quit being a baby," Veronica chided, making Layla snort.

"If he were alive, you'd be grossed out." Layla said as she threw her pack back over her shoulders.

"If something that messed up was alive, I most certainly wouldn't want to be around it," the scribe replied.

"We should keep moving..." Boone cut in. The Courier looked at him through his helmet and bit her lip.

"Yeah, Space Boone's right," Layla said, pretending not to notice the frown he was giving her. Turning down the hall, she continued. A door yawning open to her right caught her attention, and she poked her head in. It looked like a rec room with projector and some TV screens. The room was free of ghouls and, according to her Pip-Boy, radiation as well.

"What is it?" she heard from Veronica, who had followed her in.

"I'm just checking. Never know when these vaults have something good in them," the Courier answered, poking through one of the shelves lining the walls.

"I thought were supposed to make this a quick trip," The scribe said.

"We are. I just-" Layla trailed off as she realized what she was looking at. These weren't audio tapes, the kind that could be found all over the wastes. They were holo-vids. They were movies, pre-war movies, and there were nearly twenty of them. Just as she turned to tell Veronica about her find, her Geiger counter spiked.

"Shit, glowing one!" she cried. Both girls rushed out of the room, weapons ready, just in time to see ED-E finish off the creature in question. It was already sporting a good sized hole in the chest from Boone's rifle.

"Ah, well, carry on then," Layla said, heading back into the room.

"What are you doing?" Veronica yelled from the hall.

The Courier quickly dumped her pack, only replacing her med kit and ammo. Fortunately she'd dropped most of her gear off in Novac. All she was giving up was some food and water, which was probably irradiated by now anyway.

"I found some holotapes," Layla called back as she got the last few in the bag.

"So?" said the scribe.

"Well, they're not just holotapes, they're holo-vids. You know, movies."

"What!"

"Yep." She had to strain the zipper on her pack to get it closed. Nothing else was going in there. Shouldering the pack with a grunt, she rejoined the others in the hall. She wouldn't have thought they'd be so heavy, but she wasn't about to leave them.

"Looks like we'll be having a party when... HOLY CRAP!" Dodging to the side, she barely avoided an incoming clawed hand.

"Damn ferals!" Veronica grumbled as she smashed the ghoul's head in. Two more had joined them, but Boone and ED-E finished them quickly.

Layla shook her head, feeling light-headed. That ghoul had scared the daylights out of her. When she'd caught her breath, they continued their search for the Overseer's office.

*.*.*

"The reactor's just through that door," Layla said as she, Veronica, and Boone stepped into the control room. "The rads aren't healthy in here, so let's hurry."

A few ghouls had been waiting for them, but they were mercifully fully detected before they got anywhere near the group. Boone finished them both before any of the others managed to fire, even ED-E. Layla was getting suspicious the sniper was trying to move quicker than the robot now that he'd had his upgrades. Putting her attention back to the reactor, Layla gave her Geiger counter another check before she moved to the console in the back of the room.

Between Veronica's and Layla's prodding at the Overseer's office, they had discovered most of the Vault could be unlocked from the control consoles in the room next to the reactor. They'd figured it would be their best bet to get access to the armory, so they'd made their way through a ever growing concentration of glowing ones.

Eventually, they reached the room, and the Courier started keying in the overrides at the console. Before she'd finished, a message had popped up.

"The hell?"

The other two looked her way. She gave the message a quick read then gasped.

"There are people trapped in here. Non-ferals!"

"Where?" Veronica said, moving to her side to see.

"Past the flooded area," Layla answered. A large portion of the tunnels were flooded and inaccessible. Even with the rebreather, whoever went diving would probably come back glowing. Veronica read over her shoulder as she continued. "They must be the surviving Vault dwellers. They've been trapped in here and are asking that we give them access to the system so they can escape."

"Can you open the door here first?" Boone asked.

Layla double checked the systems. "Yeah."

"Do it."

She nodded, keying open the door to the next room. "I'll have to do it from the main reactor. Give me a minute."

The others watched as the door to the reactor opened, and the Geiger counter ticked even louder.

*.*.*

The armory was strewn with weapons. That hadn't surprised Layla; it's what an armory was supposed to be strewn with, but the sheer number and selection was amazing. Everything from C4 to a riot shotgun. It was also a lot hotter in the room than she'd imagined, and she wondered if the the ammunition would still be good in these conditions. The shotgun was calling to her, and she wandered over to it. The smile she'd been giving the weapon faded into a frown; she couldn't possibly carry it with all the other weight on her back. Wondering how loaded down Boone was, she turned his way. The girl frowned as she saw him trying to get his pack closed over a mound of guns and ammo.

"You still got that key Mother Pearl gave you?" Veronica called out, standing in front of a locked box in the corner. "I think I found the Pulse Gun."

"Yeah, right here." Digging out the key from her pack, the Courier tossed it over. "We've been down here a long time..." she said as she set her bag down, trying to figure out a way to fit the shotgun in. "Are you guys still feeling okay?"

"Yeah yeah," Veronica said as she opened the box and examined the item inside. It was definitely the Pulse Gun.

"How about you, Boone?"

The sniper looked up from his pack just as he got it closed.

"Yeah… Layla?"

"Wha?" The girl turned back his way. Veronica looked up at the sniper's tone, then gasped.

Layla followed their eyes and twisted around to see what they were looking at. There was a huge gash in the back of her radiation suit, previously obscured by her pack.

"Uh oh."

*.*.*

Soon they were rushing to leave the Vault. Veronica clutched the Pulse Gun to her chest, hoping it wasn't going to be the cause of Layla's death. The Courier was taking it all in stride. "All I need is a couple rounds of RadAway once we're out of here," she said. "Not a problem."

Veronica had believed that while the other girl was still upright and speaking. But just as they'd reached the first floor of the Vault and the girl had toppled over. Boone had scooped her up and they'd run the rest of the way to the entrance. By the time they were out of the irradiated area, Layla was unconscious.

"The Follower's clinic isn't far," Boone called to the scribe as they kept running. "This is worse than RadAway is going to fix."

The scribe nodded, feeling sick, but not from the radiation.

*.*.*

Dr. Usanagi had just sat down at her desk when a man in a spacesuit burst into the building. In his arms was a body in a torn radiation suit. Just as she was about to ask what happened, another radiation-suited person entered, clutching a weird-looking laser rifle.

"Radiation poisoning," was all the man said, and the doctor quickly ushered them to an operating room.

*.*.*

Itchy. Her eyeballs were itchy. Layla wanted to open them, but they didn't want to. Was that normal? No… definitely not normal. Deciding to leave them closed for now, she just lied still. She was on a bed. It felt clean. The room smelt like detergent and old blood.

She really wanted to open her eyes, but they were still itchy. She also wanted to scratch them, but that sounded like a lot of work, and she was tired. It was quiet. If there was anyone else in the room with her, they were keeping silent.

"Boone?" Her voice sounded scratchy, like she hadn't spoken in a while.

"Yeah?" His voice sounded concerned. She was glad he was there; he wouldn't lie about what she was about to ask.

"Boone, I haven't been ghoulified… right?"

"Are you okay?" Layla heard Veronica cry, accompanied the sounds of her rapid approach.

"Yeah, I think. Did I get ghoulified?"

"I thought you were going to die!" The scribe sounded close to tears. "All over that stupid gun!"

"I'm not dead," Layla said, attempting to be soothing while at the same time becoming very worried about the lack of answer to her question. "Have I been ghoulified?"

"Elder McNamara had better listen to me after all this trouble! He has to! Oh this is all my fault, you-"

"AM I A GHOUL?" It came out as a harsh whisper and hurt her throat.

"No, but you've had a nearly fatal dose of radiation." That hadn't been Boone or Veronica's voice, but she recognized it.

"Dr. Usanagi?"

"Yes. You need to take it easy for a bit. You nearly died."

"Ah, well, I'm glad I didn't." She still didn't want to open her eyes. "What's with my eyes?"

"Mild dehydration, just a side effect from removing the radiation. They'll feel better once we get more liquids in you."

"Great… Hey Veronica?"

"Yeah?" The scribe still sounded upset.

"You'll do something for me, won't you?"

"Anything."

"You're not allowed to feel bad about this."

"I almost got you killed over a stupid-"

"I said no feeling bad. That's feeling bad. Stop it."

There was silence, then a grumbled "Okay."

"Good. We got the Pulse Gun, right?"

"Yes," Veronica said, still sounding a little sickly.

"Good. And the holo-vids?"

"They're here," Boone answered.

"And we saved a bunch of Vault Dwellers, right?"

"Yeah."

"Great. Mission accomplished," the girl said. "Hey, Boone? Could you do me a huge favor?"

"Yeah?"

"Could you please get me a bucket and leave the room? I'm about to do some very unladylike vomiting."


	7. Deflagration

"Do I look like I've lost hair?" Layla asked for the third time in an hour. Veronica sighed heavily.

"No."

"Are you sure?" The girl was looking into the bottom of the shiny metal container she used as a mirror. There was a fairly good chance her nearly fatal radiation poisoning could have later negative effects. Dr. Usanagi had assured her she'd recover should any of the symptoms show up, but the girl acted like she expected every hair on her head to suddenly drop off.

Veronica felt terrible about the whole ordeal. Layla had been very close to dying. They ended up staying at the clinic for another whole day so she could get hydrated. She was still weakened now, but Usanagi had said she was okay to travel. "Keep her drinking, let her take frequent breaks and try not to get in any gun fights," she'd told them. The scribe had been mildly amused that the doctor had explained this all to Boone as if he were Layla's next of kin; another honest mistake.

That particular impression hadn't faded as they made their way to Hidden Valley; in fact, it intensified as they traveled. Boone had gone into 'super deranged mother bear mode.' He had been out-shooting ED-E for most of the trip and had nearly opened fire on a couple of traveling merchants who'd made a few rather inappropriate comments concerning both of the women. The Courier was taking his overprotectiveness in stride, as usual, and Veronica suspected she secretly enjoyed it.

Now, however, she turned to the man with a mildly desperate look.

"Boone? Is my hair falling out?"

The sniper looked at her for a moment, then answered.

"No."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure."

"…You'll tell me if I start losing hair, right?"

"Yes."

The Courier seemed to calm a little after that, and they continued their journey to Hidden Valley. Veronica had the Pulse Gun, and she was going to march it straight to McNamara and shove it under his nose. It'd be the proof she needed. At least it Goddamned better be for the trouble they'd gone through to get it. The Brotherhood was going to have to adapt to the world around them instead of pretending they could outlive it.

*.*.*

None of them spoke as they entered the bunker and made their way to the command room. Layla dearly hoped this was going to work, but she had her doubts. Her early impression of the Brotherhood had been that they were a bunch of quasi-religious jerk-offs that irradiated all the NCR's gold and killed a bunch of people over technology. Since she'd been able to deal with the group directly, she'd found they were, for the most part, a bunch of tech-worshiping hardheads. There were a handful of exceptions, obviously Veronica, but Elder McNamara also seemed to be in a slightly more sensible mind frame. If there was anyone in the Brotherhood that might listen to reason, it was him.

The elder looked wary as they entered, but smiled.

"Hello Veronica."

"I brought you a present." The scribe pulled the Pulse Gun from her pack and laid it in front of McNamara. He looked at it for a moment, then back to her. "It's a energy gun that can nullify power armor," she continued.

Elder McNamara gave her a patient look. "It could be the only one of it's kind."

Veronica frowned. "We won't have military superiority forever. We don't really even have it now. We need to form alliances, be diplomatic, maybe even start recruiting from outside to strengthen our numbers. We won't survive much longer if everyone hates us."

"We don't help them, and we don't let them in," the elder answered. It sounded like he was quoting something. Their Codex, Layla figured.

Veronica's frown deepened. "We'll die out..."

McNamara sighed, and for a moment they shared the same sad look. "I know."

Veronica scooped up the Pulse Gun and turned to Layla and Boone, face unreadable. "Let's get out of here..."

Layla followed Veronica out into the hallway, Boone falling into step beside her. Once they were out of the room, the scribe stopped.

"He didn't care. It was like speaking to a stranger," Veronica said. Layla frowned, moving to her friend's side.

"He'd made his mind up before you ever came in here with that," the Courier said, nodding to the Pulse Gun.

"I know, it's just… I thought I could make him see. They won't change, and we're going to die out slowly… or very quickly."

Layla put an arm around the scribe's shoulders and gave her a squeeze. Veronica looked at her.

"What should I do? I can't change what's going to happen…should I leave? Maybe join the Followers? They're at least willing to listen to good ideas."

Layla frowned. "You're the only one who can answer that."

The taller girl sighed heavily. "'Only one.' Guess I am on my own, huh?"

"No," Layla said firmly. "You're never alone as long as I'm around." A touch of a smile came to her face. "Boone too, right?" She turned his way and found him gravely nodding.

Veronica smiled slightly, then frowned as she thought. After a long silence, she spoke again. "I'm going to stay with the Brotherhood… They're my family. I'll do what I can for them, even if it won't end well."

Layla nodded, then looked apprehensive. "So… are you still gonna work with us?"

The scribe laughed. "Of course I am. I've got my whole life to watch my family disintegrate, I figure I can help you for now."

Layla gave her a grim smile. "Can't pick your family."

"Isn't that the truth." She looked at the metal walls around her. "Let's get out of here. I need some time to think."

*.*.*

Boone had a bad feeling just as they left the door of the Hidden Valley bunker. Something wasn't right, he just couldn't pinpoint what. He saw Layla look his way as he pulled his rifle off his back. He shook his head at her unasked question.

_Enemy._ She signaled with an eyebrow raised.

_Watch._ He signaled back and she nodded.

Veronica opened the door to the surface, and they walked out. Boone's eyes adjusted quickly, and he found four paladins standing in a semi-circle around them.

He stepped in front of Layla as she stood blinking at the sunlight. Her eyes were still probably oversensitive from her radiation exposure and dehydration. Looking Veronica's way, he saw her powerfist-encased hand clench into a fist as she made a grim face at the group before them. Not a good sign.

"We heard you, Veronica," one of the paladins said. "We're not going to let you question our ways."

"What are you going to do? Gun us down?" Layla said testily, squinting at the four men surrounding them. Judging by their lack of response, that was probably exactly what they planned on doing. "Oh don't be ridiculous," she continued. She still sounded impatient, but Boone knew her 'oh shit' tone when he heard it. "Blind loyalty doesn't help anyone. She was just offering alternatives. Your group is strengthened by her questioning."

The paladins didn't speak for a moment, and Boone slowly signed _Go. Door._ behind his back. It'd only buy her some time, and if these wasn't the whole group, she'd be walking into more trouble. It was better than getting gunned down here though.

There were four of them in full power armor, but his anti-materiel rifle was already in his hands. Veronica would probably go for the leader, so if he took a shot at the one next to him, it might cause enough of a pause for them to get back behind the bunker door. Then they could just wait for the paladins to come through the bottleneck and take them out.

"Fine. We'd better not hear about you causing any more trouble," the lead paladin addressed Veronica, who merely stared at them. The group dispersed then, going around to one of the other bunkers. He heard Layla let out a breath.

"God, I guess this is how it's going to be," Veronica said sadly. "They're desperate, and the first thing to go is trust."

Layla reached out, squeezing the scribe's hand. The girl looked back at them, frowning.

"Let's get out of here… I need to get away from this for a while."

*.*.*

Veronica sighed heavily as she looked out at the Mojave from the mouth of a dinosaur. Layla had suggested it, hoping it would cheer her up. Normally, it might have, but Dinky wasn't cutting it tonight. Boone stood nearby, having decided to take a shift at his old post while they hung out in Novac.

There was definitely something to be said for his brooding presence; it was comforting. The irony that she was more comfortable around an NCR sniper than all of her Brotherhood family right now was just a little too much for her, and she sighed again.

Boone stepped forward, and for a moment Veronica thought he was about to say something. Instead he aimed his rifle out the mouth of the dinosaur and snapped off a shot. Taking up the binoculars Layla had left her, she looked to see what he'd hit. There was a dead fire gecko hundreds of feet away.

"You're kinda scary sometimes," she remarked. She thought she heard the sniper chuckle.

"You're the one who scares me." The scribe turned from her lawn chair and looked at him, confused.

"I can do that with a high-caliber rifle. You can do it with your fist."

Veronica grinned. "I couldn't do it from a mile away."

"You'd think of something."

She smiled. Something was different about him lately. Veronica had been noticing it the whole trip. He seemed a little less gloomy. It suited him, just as the half grin that was on his face did.

The door from the gift shop opened, and Veronica turned to see Layla balancing three bowls in her hands.

"Who wants Fiend Stew?"

"Oh yeah!" Veronica took a bowl and sat back in her chair as The Courier took the other chair they'd dragged in. Boone remained where he was standing, but with his rifle slung over his shoulder as he ate.

"Ahhh," Veronica said as she tasted the stew. "We need to come up with a new name for this. It's too good to be named after that psycho and his crew."

"What? Just because it's named after a rapist pyro?" Layla said. "What are going to call it?"

"Dead Man's Stew," Boone said between mouthfuls.

Veronica gave him an impressed look. "Look who's a poet and I didn't know it."

Layla laughed, then gave the scribe an appraising look. "Told you this was a good idea. It's like a sleep over, only instead of 'Truth or Dare' we play 'What did Boone Just Shoot?'"

"Are we still going to braid each other's hair and talk about boys we've kissed?" said Veronica.

"Sure, but I'm the only one with braidable hair who has kissed a boy," the Courier answered.

"We could practice kissing."

"Fine," Layla said. "You and Boone go first."

"Har." Veronica leaned back in her chair and went back to her food. The night was quiet and cold, but the stew was going a long way to warm her up.

"Layla," Veronica said. The girl looked her way.

"Thank you. I know we didn't accomplish anything, but now I know I've done everything I could for them."

The Courier's previous grin melted into a serious look. "You can't pick your family…but you've always got an extra one with us."

Veronica smiled.

"I know." She thought for a few moments before speaking again. "I know you've got a secret you can't tell me… but it's okay. I trust you."

Layla took her hand, giving it a squeeze. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Thank you for everything."

"You're welcome… and thank you, too."

Neither girl spoke for a long time. The only break in the comfortable silence was Boone shooting another gecko.

* * *

><p>I hope you enjoyed Boomtown! Next Saturday we'll be starting "My Peace I Give Unto You" which will take us to Utah :D I hope PSN goes up soon, so my loyal readers will know what I"m talking about. And finally, thank you for all your very kind reviews, alerts and favorites!<p>

Oh, and before forget, I will be changing update days to WEDNESDAY/Saturdays (Sorry Ella). This will hopefully put an end to the delays we've been suffering lately. Anyway, enjoy your week, and to my fellow Americans: have a good (and safe) Memorial Day!


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